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Jan 06
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2014 in Review: A Chockablock Year

By Timber Framing, Strawtron, Woodworking, Wood Carving, Natural Building Workshops, Cob Oven, Photos

outdoor-pizza-ovenI can hardly recall such a dynamic, diverse year as 2014. 2014 marked a transition year for April and I, and I’m happy to say that it was a smooth one. It was our first year living in the Berea, Kentucky area, having left Dancing Rabbit in the fall of 2013. This move was not an insignificant event, as I spent seven full and formative years in the northeast Missouri ecovillage.

I like to think back on the year past and try to remember all that has happened — maintaining this blog is actually an important way for me to be able to do that. It’s as much about documenting what we’re up to as it is a way for me to preserve some of life’s countless details. Here I’ll share some of the notable events and experiences of 2014, the year of our transition into a new life outside of Berea, Kentucky.

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Jan 02
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Building a Cherry Shaker Blanket Chest

By Woodworking

Cherry Shaker Blanket Chest PlansWhen April mentioned the idea of building a little chest this winter, I thought, “Sure… that would be fun. Maybe we can use it like a coffee table, too. You know, throw books and our feet up on it.” Needless to say, I didn’t quite have the expectation of building a bomb-proof, beautiful piece of furniture.

Once we got the bug in our heads, and once Greg started showing off his amazing cherry wood supply, things started looking a bit different. We ended up finding a set of Shaker blanket chest plans we really liked, and all of a sudden the outlook was looking a lot more refined than I would have originally imagined.
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Dec 29
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Way Too Much Woodworking Fun

By Woodworking
Oiling the Cherry Shaker Blanket Chest

Ziggy oils the newly finished Shaker-style blanket chest

We’ve been having way too much fun for the past two weeks. April, Jacob, and I just spent the latter half of December with our great friend Greg Pennington of Hendersonville, TN. Greg is a world class Windsor chairmaker with a killer timber frame workshop to boot. When we met two winters ago, Greg graciously invited April and I to make chairs with him and so began on winter woodworking tradition. Since then we’ve learned a lot of new woodworking skills under his most expert guidance (though he would never claim any of his amazing skills as such himself.) This trip, we embarked on a pretty ambitious series of projects, which I’ll preview here!

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Dec 23
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Free Straw Bale Building Book for Download

By Straw Bale Building

Built it With Bales BookBuild It With Bales is a straw bale building classic, published in 1997. Though the book is a bit older now, it still has plenty of good information. (There are a couple of dated pieces of advice in there.)

The Last Straw has made a PDF download of the book available for free online (click here to view). Check it out if you’re interested — there’s some good reading to be had. (Thanks to the Natural Building Blog for the heads-up.)

Dec 12
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This Mayne Island Cob House is Stunning

By Cob Building, Photos
Mayne Island Cob House 00

This Mayne Island cob house is one of the most beautiful, built in 1999

This cob house is one of my favorites out there. Built by CobWorks and the Cob Cottage Company in 1999, it’s the first fully permitted cob house to be built in Canada, specifically on Mayne Island, BC. Read ahead for more beautiful photos of the home.

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Dec 07
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Our Straw Bale House ‘Exterior Design’

By Strawtron, Lime Plaster, Straw Bale Building
Straw Bale House Exterior: West Side

The west side of our straw bale house

I’ve posted a goodly number of images of the interior of our straw bale house ‘Strawtron’, but fewer of the exterior. Here’s a few photos to peruse and some explanation for our ‘exterior design’ choices. Much of how we designed the exterior was based on the local climate, orientation to the sun, functionality, and aesthetics. I think the function, look, and feel of the exterior of the home is as important or more (in some cases) than the interior.
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Nov 30
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Natural Lighting in Your Natural Home

By Living Electricity-free, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
Natural Lighting: Straw Bale Home Interior

The morning sun casts a warm glow on the bedroom ceiling on our straw bale home

Something I’ve become very aware of over the last number of years is my deep craving for natural lighting, and access to sunlight in general. This becomes especially apparent to me when I’m in a home that has poor solar orientation, or during the winter when sunlight is naturally less abundant. Unless I can see and feel the sun on me when I wake up, for example, I’m much more likely to feel drowsy and lethargic in the morning hours. Something I’m very happy about with our straw bale house that we built in Missouri is the abundance and quality of light in the home interior.

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Nov 23
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Straw Bale Workshop Slated for 2015!

By Natural Building Workshops, Straw Bale Building

Straw Bale Workshop 2015We’ve got some very exciting news to share with you. This fall we’ve been busy behind the scenes, organizing our first workshop for 2015 — a Straw Bale Workshop next July outside of Berea, Kentucky! We’re really happy to be teaming up with Mark Mazziotti again to offer another 7 day course on straw bale construction. This time, our workshop site is a small octagonal straw bale house. It’s an off-grid home being built here in the stunning Appalachian foothills.

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Nov 23
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Straw Bale Workshop Slated for 2015!

By Natural Building Workshops, Straw Bale Building

Straw Bale Workshop 2015We’ve got some very exciting news to share with you. This fall we’ve been busy behind the scenes, organizing our first workshop for 2015 — a Straw Bale Workshop next July outside of Berea, Kentucky! We’re really happy to be teaming up with Mark Mazziotti again to offer another 7 day course on straw bale construction. This time, our workshop site is a small octagonal straw bale house. It’s an off-grid home being built here in the stunning Appalachian foothills.

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Nov 19
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Our Recent Book Giveaway Winner

By Uncategorized

japanese-templeCongrats to Darren Collins, our most recent book giveaway winner who’ll be receiving a copy of The Art of Japanese Architecture in the mail in the coming days! Thanks again to all who participated. I’ll have more giveaways coming in the winter months, so go ahead and subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed.

In other misc. news… The Year of Mud newsletter will be getting a facelift in the next month or two as well. It will be streamlined so that it’s easier to sign up, and I may begin including special content for newsletter readers that isn’t available here on the website.

Other things to look out for? We’ll be announcing our first 2015 workshop soon, too. Look out!